GP3MixMedia TrailMix - Glossary

A comprehensive guide to terms, acronyms, and concepts used in the GP3MixMedia TrailMix platform.

Platform-Specific Terms

Archive

A system where deleted records are stored instead of being permanently removed. Archived records can be restored if needed. Ensures no data is permanently lost.

Campaign

A container for all media tracking related to a specific political race or effort. Each campaign has its own data, settings, and user access controls.

Deduplication (Dedupe)

The process of identifying and merging duplicate records that appear from multiple data sources. Prevents double-counting of spending.

Dedupe Group

A collection of records that the system believes might be duplicates. Requires analyst review to merge or mark as separate.

Exception

A data quality issue automatically detected by the system, such as missing station assignments, large spending variances, or ingestion failures.

Feed

An automated data source that the platform polls regularly to collect new records (e.g., FCC feed, AdImpact feed).

Ingestion

The automated process of collecting data from external sources (FCC, AdImpact, OpenFEC, newsletters) and adding it to campaigns.

Matrix

The main data table showing detailed spending information organized by market, medium, station, and week.

Reconciliation

The process of comparing and merging data from multiple sources to create a single accurate record of campaign spending.

Week Mode

Filter setting that controls which weeks are displayed:

• Booked: Past and confirmed future weeks
• Projected: Includes estimated future spending
• Future Only: Only upcoming weeks
• Next Week: Just the next calendar week

Media & Advertising Terms

Ad Buy

A purchase of advertising time or space from a media outlet. Typically includes details like dates, cost, and expected reach.

Advertiser

The entity purchasing the ads. In political campaigns, this is usually the campaign committee or supporting PAC.

Buy Line

A single record representing one media purchase for a specific time period. Contains details like spend, dates, station, and performance metrics.

CTV (Connected TV)

Television content streamed over the internet to smart TVs or devices like Roku, Apple TV, etc.

CPM (Cost Per Mille/Thousand)

The cost to reach 1,000 people with an ad. Used to compare efficiency across different media buys. Formula: (Total Cost / Impressions) × 1,000

Creative

The actual ad content - the video, audio, or image that runs during a media placement.

Daypart

Time segments of the broadcast day:

• Early Morning: 6 AM - 9 AM
• Daytime: 9 AM - 4 PM
• Early Fringe: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Prime Time: 8 PM - 11 PM
• Late Night: 11 PM - 2 AM

Digital Media

Online advertising including display ads, video ads, social media ads, search ads, and programmatic placements.

DMA (Designated Market Area)

Geographic regions defined by Nielsen where the population receives the same TV and radio stations. Examples: "New York, NY", "Los Angeles, CA", "Des Moines-Ames, IA".

Flight

The period during which an ad campaign runs (start date to end date).

Frequency

The average number of times a person in the target audience is exposed to an ad during a campaign.

GRP (Gross Rating Points)

A metric measuring the size of an audience reached by a specific media buy. One GRP equals 1% of the total market population.

• 100 GRPs = Average person saw ad 1 time (if reach is 100%)
• 200 GRPs = Average person saw ad 2 times (if reach is 100%)

Impression

A single instance of an ad being displayed or heard.

• Digital: Each time an ad loads on a screen
• Broadcast: Estimated based on ratings data

Market

Geographic area where ads run. Usually refers to a DMA.

Medium / Media Type

The category of advertising:

• TV: Broadcast and cable television
• Radio: AM/FM radio stations
• Digital: Online advertising
• OTT: Over-the-top streaming services
• CTV: Connected TV streaming
• Mail: Direct mail pieces
• Phone: Phone banking and robocalls

OTT (Over-The-Top)

Video content delivered via streaming services (Hulu, YouTube TV, etc.) that bypass traditional cable/satellite.

Placement

Where and when an ad runs - the specific combination of outlet, time, and program.

Reach

The percentage or number of unique people exposed to an ad at least once during a campaign.

Rep (Station Representative)

Sales representative from a media outlet who sells advertising time/space.

Rotation

How often an ad runs during a given time period (e.g., "10 spots per week").

Spot

A single airing of a TV or radio commercial.

Station

A specific media outlet:

• TV: Local TV station or cable network
• Radio: AM/FM radio station
• Digital: Platform or website

TRP (Target Rating Point)

Similar to GRP but measures only the target demographic, not the entire market.

Government & Compliance Terms

AdImpact

A commercial service that tracks political advertising spending across media markets. Provides intelligence on campaign and PAC advertising.

Committee

A political organization registered with the FEC that raises and spends money for elections. Types include:

• Principal Campaign Committee: Candidate's main committee
• PAC: Political Action Committee
• Super PAC: Independent expenditure-only committee

FCC (Federal Communications Commission)

U.S. government agency regulating broadcast communications. Requires TV/radio stations to maintain public political files disclosing political ad purchases.

FCC Political File

Public records maintained by broadcast stations showing all political advertising purchases. Must include advertiser, dates, amounts, and other details.

FEC (Federal Election Commission)

U.S. agency administering campaign finance law. Requires reporting of contributions and expenditures.

Facility ID

Unique identifier assigned by the FCC to each broadcast station. Used to track stations in the political file system.

Independent Expenditure

Spending for political communication that expressly advocates for or against a candidate but is made independently of the candidate's campaign.

OpenFEC

Public API providing access to FEC campaign finance data including contributions, expenditures, and committee information.

Political File API

FCC's system for accessing political file data from broadcast stations.

24-Hour Report

FEC requirement to report contributions or expenditures of $1,000+ within 24 hours during the final 20 days before an election.

User & Access Terms

Admin

User role with full access including campaign creation, system configuration, user management, and email sending.

Analyst

User role that can view data, edit records, resolve duplicates, and upload files. Cannot manage system configuration or users.

Permission

Access right granted to a user role (e.g., permission to send emails, permission to edit data).

Role

Set of permissions assigned to a user determining what they can do in the platform.

Session

Active period when a user is logged into the platform. Sessions expire after a period of inactivity.

SSO (Single Sign-On)

Authentication method allowing users to log in with their organization's Google Workspace account.

Viewer

User role with read-only access. Can view dashboards, reports, and export data but cannot edit or resolve duplicates.

Data & Technical Terms

API (Application Programming Interface)

A way for different software systems to communicate. The platform uses APIs to collect data from FCC, AdImpact, and OpenFEC.

Archive Table

Database table storing deleted records. Every main table has a corresponding archive table.

Batch Update

Editing multiple records at once rather than one at a time.

CSV (Comma-Separated Values)

Plain text file format for tabular data. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet program.

Export

Downloading data from the platform in a file format (CSV, XLSX, PDF).

Hash

A unique fingerprint generated from data to detect duplicates. Two records with the same hash are likely identical.

Ingestion Run

A single execution of a data collection job from an external source. Tracked with start time, end time, records found, and success/failure status.

Metadata

Data about data. For campaigns: settings, keywords, DMAs, and configuration rather than spending records themselves.

Migration

Database schema change that adds, removes, or modifies tables and columns.

Polling

Regularly checking an external source for new data (e.g., checking FCC every 15 minutes).

Prisma

Object-relational mapping (ORM) tool used by the platform to interact with the MySQL database.

Record

A single row in a database table. For example, one buy line record or one campaign record.

Schema

The structure of the database including all tables, columns, and relationships.

Webhook

A way for external services to notify the platform when events occur (e.g., notifications when an email bounces).

XLSX

Microsoft Excel file format supporting formatting, formulas, and multiple sheets.

Date & Time Terms

Booked Week

A week with confirmed advertising placements (historical or contracted future weeks).

Flight Dates

Start and end dates for when ads are scheduled to run.

Future Week

A week that hasn't occurred yet. May be booked or projected.

Historical Data

Past records that have already occurred.

Projected Week

Estimated future spending not yet confirmed by contracts.

Week Start

The beginning date of a week. The platform uses Monday as the week start for all data.

Financial Terms

Budget

Total amount allocated for media spending in a campaign or time period.

Pacing

Rate of spending relative to the planned budget. "On pace" means spending as planned; "ahead of pace" means spending faster than planned.

Spend

Amount of money paid or committed for advertising.

Spend Variance

Difference between spending amounts reported by different sources for the same ad buy.

Threshold

Minimum value that triggers an action. For example, "Alert when new spend exceeds $5,000."

Process Terms

Cleanup

Automated process that removes expired archive records based on retention policies.

Hydration

Process of populating campaign data such as normalizing keywords, refreshing station lists, and updating DMAs.

Parsing

Extracting structured data from uploaded files like spreadsheets or PDFs.

Processing

Converting uploaded files into database records that appear in the matrix.

Refresh

Updating data by re-running a process. For example, refreshing station lists pulls the latest stations from FCC data.

Resolution

The act of deciding what to do with a duplicate group (merge, skip, flag for review).

Retention Policy

Rules determining how long archived records are kept before permanent deletion.

Trigger

Manually starting an automated process immediately rather than waiting for the scheduled time.

Email & Alert Terms

Bounce

Email delivery failure. Can be "soft" (temporary, like full mailbox) or "hard" (permanent, like invalid address).

Broadcast

Sending an alert or report to multiple recipients.

Delivery Status

Whether an email was successfully delivered, bounced, or is pending.

Email Template

Pre-defined format for automated emails including alerts and reports.

MJML

Markup language for creating responsive email templates.

Preview

View how an email will look before sending it.

Recipient

Person receiving an email or alert.

Gmail API

Email delivery service used by the platform to send alerts and reports via OAuth.

Send Event

Record of an email being sent including delivery status, opens, clicks, and bounces.

Technical & System Terms

Circuit Breaker

A resilience pattern that prevents cascading failures by temporarily stopping requests to failing external services. States: CLOSED (normal), OPEN (failing), HALF_OPEN (testing).

Confidence Score

A numerical rating (0-100) indicating how likely two records are duplicates. Higher scores mean more likely duplicates.

Idempotency

A property ensuring that making the same request multiple times has the same effect as making it once. Prevents duplicate processing.

Meta Ads Library

Facebook/Instagram's public database of political advertising. The platform automatically collects ads from this source.

Google Political Ads

Google's public BigQuery dataset of political advertising on Google platforms. The platform automatically collects ads from this source.

Push Notification

Browser-based notifications delivered even when the platform isn't open. Requires user permission.

Rate Limiting

Controls how many requests can be made in a time period. Prevents abuse and ensures fair access.

VAPID

Voluntary Application Server Identification for Web Push. Authentication method for push notifications.

Undo Token

A unique identifier provided after certain actions (like merges) that allows you to reverse the action.

Watermark

A position marker used by ingestion feeds to track what data has already been processed.

Common Acronyms Quick Reference

Need More Help?

• User Guide - Detailed feature documentation
• Getting Started - Quick start for new users
• FAQ - Common questions
• Troubleshooting - Problem solving

Last Updated: March 2026